Lightning-rod.



autres r. costra, or Henneman, Wisconsin.

LIGHTNING-zeon.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept.. 14, 12H5.

Appncanon aiedeaecember 14, am. serial rio. ceases To all colmi/1. it'may concern lle it known that JULIUs l?. (on'rz, a citizen of theUnited States, and resident of Hartford, in the county of Washington andState ol" lVisconsin, have 'invented new and useful Improvements inLightning-Rods, of which the following is a description,referencejbeinghad 'to the accompanying; drawings, which are a part ofthis specilication.

This invention has for its object to provide a lightningrod whichwill beflexible,

so as to be readily bent around corners and edges of the building andwhich at the saine time Awill be less expensive than cable constructions at present in use.

The inrention 'further ydesigns to provide a lightning rod ccn'iprisinga flat strip of flexible material which is coiled helically to forni 'ahollow self sustaining core upon which the wires forming 'the surface'of the rod are wound 'and supported-` Vlfitli the above and otherobjects in View the invention consists in the lightning rod herein'claini'ed and all equivalents. i

Referring to the 'accompanying drawings' 4in which ,like characters ol'reference indicate the same partsin different views: Figure l is aperspective view of a fragment of lightning rod constructed inaccordance with this invention and shown on a large scale for sake otclearness of illustration; and, Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewthereof.

ln these drawings 10 indicates 'the core which is formed from a flatstrip or selfsustaining flexible material, preferably of sheet metal,such as Copper, said strip being v. coiled. in the form of a helix, saidhelix.

forming a. hollow core upon which the wires forming the surface. of, therod are wound and supported. Thestripof material being initially fiatwhen it.P coiled the' convolutions of the coils WilV ,t ni bearingsurfaces for the wires astheconi olutions of the coils are of the samediameter the'successive coils will 'forni a longitudinally extendinghear- :ingy surface, portions of Which are spaced apart at eachconvolution or the coil.

The pitch on which the ribbon is coiled is preferably so great as toleavel considerable space between the co'nvolutions thereof, equal toorgreater .than the Width of the ribbon but the distance between theconvolutions may be varied withoutfdeparting from ranged side by side soas to complete a cylindrical formation and these f wires are coiled inthe direction opposite to the direction of turning of the ribbon formingthe core but preferably at a pitch greater than the pitch ol3 theconvolutions of the ribbon, so that each strand of wire will cross thesuccessive convolutions oi' the ribbon l0 and be held in place thereby.The resiliencyT of the wires is s uilicient to cause them to bridge thegap between the successive convolutions of the core without disturbingthe uniforml ity inthe appearance of the cylindrical hol* low cableconstruction.

The invention possesses `the advantage over solid cable constructions,in which the entire body is made up of strands of Wire, of beinglighterto handle and less expensive to manufacture, while plissessing the saineeiiciency because of the fact that the e'liective conductivity ot' alightning rod is deterlmined by its external surface only.`

The light sheet metal core is flexible to a sufficient extent to enablethe cable to be bent as desired to avoid.. projections of the buildingand to enable it to be placed where* ever desired without the formationof angle joints. l

l/Vhat 1' claim as new and desire to, secure by Letters Patentis: l l

l; A `lightning conductor comprising a. hollowr self-sustainingwire-supporting core formed from a flat strip of flexible 'Inaieriah andan outer surface, inclosing said core, comprisingl a plurality of wireswound upon the core to torina conductor.

2. A lightning `conductor comprising a hollow self-sustainingwire-supporting core formed from a strip of flexible material helicallycoiled, and an outer surface, inclosing said core, comprising aplurality of lielically coiled wires wound upon the core to form aconductor tube. p 4

3. A. liglntning` conductor comprising a hollow selfsustainingg;Wire-supporting core formed from allat strip of 'flexibleelectrical-conducting' material helically coiled, and an outer/.surfaceinclosing said core, cornprising aplurality of helically` coiled wireswoundV aroiu-dffnpori .the .bearing surfaces formed bytheconvolutioIs-othe helical coil otthe'core 'to 'form @conductor tube.

.4. A li,fghtningy condu'e Gcomprising a hollow self-sustaining wsupporting core formed from a Hat viexib netal strip helititi ile

cally coiled, und anouter surface, inclosing In testimony whereof, afixmy signasnid core, comprising a plurality of helically ture, iiipresence of two Witnesses.

coiled wires 'wound around upon the bearing 1 sui-faces formed by theeonvolutions of the JULIUS GOLTZ' helical coils of the core 'and acrossthe gaps Vvlitnesses: between the alternate convolutions of the v R. S.C. CALDWELL,

coil to form a conductor tube. l. KATHERINE HOLT.

